I. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed generally to the field of agriculture machinery, and more particularly, it relates to a preplanting tillage implements generally used in combination with a seed planting device. Specifically, the invention relates to row treating units incorporating a combination of tools including row cleaning devices, also known as residue managers or trash whipping devices, and soil penetrating coulter devices. The units are designed to be attached to the front of a variety of implements including seed planting implements, fertilizer applicators and other soil treating applicators. The deployment and/or down force exerted by the row cleaner is independently adjustable and controlled using pneumatic operators.
II. Related Art
In the spring, prior to planting, farmers must prepare their fields for accepting seed. Many tillage implements have been designed and are used to condition the soil in preparation for planting. Traditional farming includes both primary and secondary tillage tasks to prepare the soil such as plowing, disking, field cultivating and harrowing. Disking is an example of a method of primary tillage and harrowing is an example of a method of secondary tillage.
Primary tillage is a first pass over the soil using a soil conditioning implement attached to the rear of a tractor which works deep into the soil. The soil is usually worked several inches deep to break up clods of soil, remove air pockets, and destroy weeds deep in the earth. Secondary tillage involves another pass over the same soil, at a more shallow depth, using implements which are generally attached to the rear of the primary tillage unit or to the front of a planter such that the secondary tillage unit follows the primary tillage unit. The secondary tillage unit generally may work the soil to a depth of a few inches or more usually not to exceed the desired seed planting depth.
A secondary tillage unit is usually a final conditioning tool to prepare the soil for planting. Various units may chop up crop residues, or move them out of the way to clean rows to be planted, break up soil clods and break up any crust on the top of the soil, provide seed furrows, weed control, incorporate chemicals into the soil, and stir and firm the soil closer to the surface.
Row cleaners and coulter devices are important types of secondary soil conditioning implements. Row cleaners include a pair of angled, converging multi-bladed trash wheels that could include optional floater wheels. These cleaners are primarily used to remove debris including residue, rocks, soil clods, etc., by pushing it to the side out of the way before seeding/planting. This also helps to eliminate “row unit bounce” that occurs when residue, rocks, clods, are encountered by agriculture machinery. Coulters include a sharp rotating blade or wedge wheel which is generally wavy or rippled about its circumference which is used to improve planting conditions by cutting through and loosening the soil before opening disks of the planter open the soil to place seeds. Typically coulters are set to cut through the soil to the same or slightly less depth than the opening disks of the planter and are particularly useful in harder soils where cutting and loosening the soil is important. Coulters may also be useful in fields containing a high volume of residue or trash from a previous crop, as they can cut through the trash making it easier to be pushed out of the way by row cleaners. In addition, coulters help eliminate side wall compaction created by planting/seeding implements.
Farmers obtain great benefit from using both coulters and row cleaners as a means of secondary tillage to prepare soil for planting. The ability to remove debris and break up soil may lead to more even plant emergence and increased planting population which, in turn, lead to better crop yields at harvest. Row cleaning, trash moving or trash whipping devices, then, represent a type of equipment which can be advantageously added to a row crop planter to handle amounts of crop residue often present on a field to be replanted, particularly if no till farming is being employed. Minimal till or no till farming, of course, leaves an amount of crop residue on a field which may interfere with subsequent seeding operations and so needs to be moved aside from planted/seeded rows. As indicated, row cleaners normally include pairs of angled disks with radially directed teeth or spikes which move crop residue out of the way in advance of planting/seeding. They are normally assembled so that the angled disks form a V-shape and they may or may not overlap.
One problem associated with the operation of row cleaners is controlling the depth of operation of the disk spikes in the field. Some of the present devices are mounted at a fixed vertical distance from a tool bar on a planter. The height is adjustable between a series of fixed vertical location settings only using movable bolts or pins. There is no independent control over the force exerted by the implement. The fixed location does not allow for row cleaners to follow ground terrain to perform at the setting desired. The pins may be used to adjust and limit the bottom or fixed maximum depth of the wheels with the weight of the trash wheels alone providing down force to the device.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial if the deployment and downward force exerted by the row cleaner could be varied and remotely controlled. Thus, if the lift force or down pressure force on the trash whipping device could be controlled and adjusted, as needed, it would present a distinct advantage. Down force adjustment allows adjustment for changing field conditions and terrain. Up force adjustment allows for adjustment to create ride and ability to raise quickly.
It would also be beneficial if a row unit including a trash whipping-type device with its pair of spiked disks mounted on a triangular mount to move debris out of the way were combined with the sharp steel blade of a coulter to cut the soil vertically and provide a shallow furrow through the soil just prior to planting.